Hamilton takes pole position in Melbourne

Lewis Hamilton won the pole position for Australian Grand Prix, the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship season-opening race. Mercedes again was ahead to the rest of the grid but the gaps from the previous year are somewhat shortened.

In the second qualifying round, Mercedes drivers confirmed they still have the best cars. Ferrari reduced the gap to reigning champions but that wasn’t enough for the serious challenge. Valtteri Bottas set the best lap time – 1:23.215 – only 0.036s faster than his teammate.

At the beginning of the final round, Daniel Ricciardo slid out of the track, went into the gravel and barriers, damaging his Red Bull RB13 pretty badly. Qualifying was red flagged for a while and in the final eight minutes, Mercedes proved its supremacy. Lewis Hamilton won his career 62nd pole position, this time beating Sebastian Vettel by 0.268s.